AXY17 v Minister for Immigration

This matter concerned an application for review of a delegate of the Minister for Immigration's decision to refuse to grant a protection visa. The applicant sought review of this decision before the Tribunal, which found it had no jurisdiction to hear the matter. The applicant subsequently sought judicial review of the Tribunal's decision.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Tribunal had erred in law by finding that it lacked jurisdiction to review the delegate's decision. This turned on whether the applicant's application for review had been lodged within the prescribed time limit, as stipulated by section 412(1)(b) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and regulation 4.31 of the *Migration Regulations 1994* (Cth).

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant was notified of the delegate's decision on 10 November 2016, and pursuant to section 494C of the Act, was taken to have been notified on that date. This meant the 28-day period for lodging a review application expired on 8 December 2016. As the application was received by the Tribunal on 9 December 2016, it was out of time, and the Tribunal therefore lacked jurisdiction. The applicant's migration agent contended that an electronic lodgement attempt was made on 7 December 2016, but due to IT system failures, the application was not successfully uploaded until 9 December 2016. The Tribunal had regard to this explanation but noted that the IT work was undertaken two weeks after the alleged problems were identified and that the agent's explanation did not overcome the statutory notification date.

The court ultimately dismissed the application for judicial review, upholding the Tribunal's finding that it lacked jurisdiction. The court found no error of law in the Tribunal's determination that the application for review was lodged outside the statutory time limit.